Wind musical instrument and its voice

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Woodwind musical instruments bring a clearly audible color to the overall sound palette of a symphony orchestra - strong and bright.

The timbre of each of them is so independent that composers not only supply the flute, clarinet, oboe, and bassoon with their own part, but also compose large solo episodes for them. Only the bow group of the orchestra enjoys great attention. A wind musical instrument is the power of sound, it is compactness, it is multi-color dynamics. Let's take a closer look at each of them.

Flute

The oldest wind musical instrument, known since the times of Egypt, Greece and Rome, but probably born many millennia earlier. Even in the most primitive form - just a reed cut in a special way - a flutecapable of sounding truly musical. Since the Middle Ages, two varieties have been known: a straight flute and a transverse one. The straight one - with a tip - was less amenable to improvements and therefore is not used so widely; in the 18th century it was supplanted from the orchestra by a more viable "transverse" sister. In terms of virtuosity (from the convenience of playing), there is no equal among the flute among its brethren. The favorite instrument for home music-making is more often than others the soloist in great concert music. True, it is rather difficult to play a wide cantilena on a flute - it requires a very large air flow. The sound is cold, as if otherworldly. It is worth noting the most vivid examples of this instrument: the melody from the opera "Orpheus and Eurydice" by Gluck and "Dance of the Shepherds" from the ballet "The Nutcracker" by Tchaikovsky.

Oboe

Descendant of the primitive flute. The European version of the oboe comes from the Middle East. In the 17th century, he joined the symphony orchestra, where he quickly gained concert fame and became a favorite of all music lovers. The most difficult concertos have been written for the oboe since the time of Lully, Bach and Handel. Later, in the 19th century, the clarinet gave way to the favorite. The oboe does not need to be tuned, the whole orchestra is equal to it. This is a "singing" wind musical instrument, although, like the flute, it can be virtuoso. But his "horse" - elegy, sadness, sadness. For example, an intermission before the second act of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake".

Clarinet

Strong, flexible, rich in expressive means, the sound of the clarinet is immediately recognizable and always heard, no matter what wind musical instruments currently compete for the listener's attention. The pastorality of the picture is especially well conveyed with the help of this favorite of classical composers: Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov gave all the tunes of the shepherd Lel to the clarinet. In addition to the usual, the symphony orchestra uses small, bass clarinets and occasionally alto - basset horn.

Bassoon

Translated from Italian - a bundle of firewood. Where did this specific name come from? In the 16th century, on the basis of an old bass pipe - a bombarda - a bassoon was built in the form of a huge wooden pipe bent in two. Visually, it resembled firewood in the hands of a musician. The new timbre amazed contemporaries with its euphony and was even called "dolchino" - "delicate, sweet". In the 19th century, he received his individual plan in the layout of the voices of a symphony orchestra. As an example - the opera "Robert the Devil" by Meyerbeer, where the bassoons depict deathly laughter. Beethoven, Weber, and Rimsky-Korsakov (especially in "Scheherazade") use its visual means a lot, and this wind musical instrument received the most striking characteristic in the theme of grandfather ("Peter and the Wolf" by Prokofiev) and in the finale of Shostakovich's ninth symphony. In addition to the bassoon itself, the symphony orchestra sounds the lowest instrument in the range -contrabassoon, three times bent almost four meters of wooden pipe. This is knitting, this is knitting! It is less technical than a simple bassoon, but resembles an organ in timbre. It usually serves to enhance the bass part. Example: Ravel's "Beauty and the Beast Conversation" is the voice of the monster.